Eternal Enemies Review

Released: Apr 15, 2014Genre: Deathcore, Nu MetalLabel: Victory RecordsNumber Of Tracks: 15
With the opening track titled "Bring a Gun to School," this album is poised to be as controversial as any Emmure album. But the real question is will it be more creative?

Eternal EnemiesFeatured review by: UG Team, on may 30, 2014 2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Sound: Emmure is a deathcore/nu-metal band from New York City that has managed to generate a fair bit of controversy in their couple of years on the musical circuit. Making waves (not in a good way) with their lyrics, Emmure always seems to find themselves in the news. The title of the opening track of this album is as controversial as any they have done before. Especially if you live in the USA, you can see how the title "Bring a Gun to School" might incense some people (a former band member called the lead singer a "disgusting human being" in response to the song).

For those who might be infuriated, you don't need to worry about the song getting popular; the first forty-five seconds are filled with annoying guitar feedback and the remaining minute is not anything significant enough to discuss at length. As much as I dreaded this, I am sorry to report that the rest of the album does not deviate far from this song in terms of actually attempting to do something interesting.

If you want a short review, the following quote from a previous review of mine by UG user jay3213 does a good job summing up the album:

"Sounds like every other Nu metal band to me... doesn't really stand out

Tabs

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In reality, there is much better deathcore than this. This is also not to say that Emmure's entire catalog is bad. This album just happens to be. To go more in-depth, each song sounds pretty much the same, grounded in a chugging riff from the E string of a guitar tuned to drop-z before going to some sort of breakdown that continues the same riff, just at a different pace. Maybe we are meant to applaud just at the fact that Emmure includes breakdowns in their music. Basically, their breakdowns are some of the most uncreative things that I have heard in music. Again, it is not that breakdowns in general are uncreative, but rather that their breakdowns are uncreative.

Even the riffs that are not based on chugging, though they are few, do not exhibit much creativity; they seem to be just trying to fill the space instead of being productive. Some of the guitar work is adequate, like on "A Gift a Curse," but most of the time, the guitar work can be described as nothing other than mediocre.

Other aspects of this album are just as mediocre, if not more so. The drumming definitely shows less creativity than the guitar work. Whether it is the drums mirroring the guitars or vice versa, the conclusion is that the drumming isn't really creative; it seems, even if not so, to be a slave to the guitar riffs and breakdowns, not it its own separate entity. The production of the album, while not horrible, is no saving grace. The only thing that keeps this album even close to relevant is the couple of times when Emmure deviates from the standard chugging fare into something more creative like, for example, the last song of the album, "We Were Just Kids." // 4

Lyrics: The vocals are the best part of this album, though that really doesn't say much. Lyrically, Emmure may drive off many with discussions of suicide, the aforementioned topic of murder, and above all, the constant degradation of being human. Those not driven off by the lyrics will find that the vocals show some creativity and variation, but not any more than the average -core band.

The clean vocals, when present, are okay, as are the growls, but nothing could be considered above average. I guess one could say that the guitar parts and the vocals are interconnected; they feed off one another. Still, this relationship is not significant enough to warrant significant attention. // 6

Overall Impression: Overall, I am disappointed with the apparent regression in Emmure's songwriting skills. While this isn't the worst deathcore album I've heard, it is nowhere near good. Emmure manages to keep this album above the trash heap by including little shards of creativity here and there with some interestingly melodic chord progressions. But in the end, the monotony of 95% of the album is just too much to bear.

In essence, I wouldn't recommend this album to a friend and if it was lost or stolen, I would not buy the album again. // 4

Eternal Enemies
Reviewed by:
vppark2, on may 30, 2014 1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Sound: Emmure. Emmure. Emmure. Emmure is back at it with their sixth full-length album. While some people will label this band as deathcore, some, such as one of my close friends, called it "beat down" and nearly ripped my head off for it. I guess that's what I get for talking to an Emmure fan. Anyways... my opinion on what Emmure basically is, is a cluster f--k of nu-metal influences with a hint of their own style of "beat down" brutalness. Okay... that may have sounded rather lame to some, but it's difficult to not hear the Limp Bizkit and Korn influences gathered up in this band. And also the near fact that Frankie (lead vocalist) draws influences from Fred Durst of LB and Jonathan Davis of Korn. The rest of the band is also influenced by Nine Inch Nails, and Converge. So really, I could see where all of these influences are coming from. I could somewhat see the NIN influence for the electronics (although Emmure doesn't really use them). I think it's mainly the spoken word thing that Trent Reznor does that may have an influence on Frankie. As for Converge, I could definitely see the influence, mainly because whatever Emmure does is ridiculous and chaotic (most of the time not in a good way though). All of this aside, what can we expect from this album? Well... we'll see. This album clock in at 45:03, so if you're looking for spending time on finding out yourself before reading this review, you might as well do so. // 5

Lyrics: The first track, "Bring a Gun to School," or as iTunes version "(Untitled)," which is most likely labeled that way to not cause any offense. Upon listening to this track, I was expecting to be sickened after hearing the controversy between ex-rhythm guitarist Ben Lionetti posting a statement regarding his former band and addressing the track, calling Frankie a "disgusting human being." He has decided he may file legal action against the band, the label that holds them and their management in order to get back what they owe him and his brother Joe, a former drummer of the band. Of course, these lyrics, as seen here, may seem offensive, but in all honesty, this is in no way trying to encourage school shootings. Then again, I don't know Frankie, but I'm assuming that he's just trying to tell a story, and I really don't mind him doing that. After this song ends, it goes right into "Nemesis," one of the few listenable tracks on this album. Instrumentally, the only really good thing about this song is drumming. Mark Castillo, a former member of Crossfade, Between The Buried And Me, and also a founding member of Bury Your Dead, really shines on this track. Right off the bat after hearing the main guitar riff, the drums come rolling through (sorry, I have no idea how to explain drumming very well). At 1:47, as Frankie speaks, "This is my message to a dying world // I f--king hate you // You'll get what you deserve" the drumming intensifies. Lyrically speaking is just another letdown after letdown from Frankie. He repeats the same lines about 3 times after that.. talk about repetitive and boring. Also, you know he had an angsty childhood when writing lyrics such as:

"No I don't care what they wantI'll never be what you want me to beDon't give a f--k what you thinkJust get the f--k away from me."

"A Gift a Curse," probably this album's best track, not only isn't a terrible song lyrically, but Mark shines on this song once again.

"What I've done what I've seenThe lives I've touched, what does it mean?Losing track of everythingI gave it all but what did I gainAnd I don't care what waits for meOn the other side of life's releaseCause when I close my eyes your face is all I seeSo even if I die I'll never rest in peace."

The next song, "E," is just annoying. I could listen to "Free Publicity" until the 2nd time I listened. I was just bothered when Frankie screamed the lines, "You f--king coward // Why don't you hate yourself?"

"So you better what your f--king mouthBefore I put you on the f--king groundB-tch.

"Yeah I'm the motherf--ker people always talking aboutAw sh-tI see you standing, arms crossed, trying to stare me downGet bentSo if you wanna see me fail I'll say it nice and loudEat d-ckAnd you can hate me all you want because I don't give a sh-t."

"Rat King" is another listenable track, but just an okay track. I enjoyed "Girls Don't Like Boys Girls Like 40's and Blunts" at first for the heaviness, but the lyrics itself are pretty face palm worthy.

"I'm gonna f--k your pretty faceTry the cum, and tell me how does it taste?

I know exactly what you want, you f--king slutDaddy doesn't love you enoughthat you wanna get f--ked

"New Age Rambler" definitely wreaks some Marilyn Manson influence, regarding creepy spoken word. The last track, "We Were Just Kids" is the best track, guitar wise. These last two tracks, and "Rat King" sort of remind me of some of Bring Me The Horizon's material, in a way. And that's a good thing. It's not just open note chugs. // 4

Overall Impression: Let's just say this album could've been much worse. This could quite possibly be their best release. I know for certain that it was much better than their past two albums, but that's only because there's a few groovy tracks on this album. Frankie does an okay job with spoken word, but it just gets repetitive sometimes, The breakdowns really don't do much at all either. The drumming is great, but of course, a guy like Mark has exceptional talent from all of the other bands he was in before. The sad part is that he only has a few moments of where he shines on this album. If you've never listened to this band before, don't hesitate to check this album out. Just be aware that there really hasn't been any exceptional material this band has put out. // 6

You know, I don't know why I care enough to point out that their first LP was actually pretty good and their second LP, while a bit monotonous, at least showed some emotion and feeling because ever since Felony, they've basically just become a band interested in shock value and writing as many bro-core breakdowns as possible.

Because they are the money printing machine for the bro-core scene. Just take a look at any mail order shop for the 'scene/hipster metal' audience, i.e. impericon, and everything you'll see is stupid sweatpants, wayfarers and snapbacks with emmure logos printed all over it.

If you've made a career telling people you don't give a **** (and I assume you pay Fred Durst royalties for doing so) chances are you give every **** possible. Where do people get this idea that sounding like a bitter douchebag makes you look tough? You're just people know how much things actually bother you.
You picked on me in high school, years later, I wrote a song about not giving a ****. You say my band sucks and that you bet I'll write a song about not giving a **** about it, and I proceed to write a song about not giving a **** about it.